Charles Vogt

President and CEO, GENBAND

It’s been nearly six years since Charles Vogt took over the reins of a small maker of telecom gear called General Bandwidth.

A lot has changed since then, and not just the company’s name, which is now GENBAND.

At the time Vogt took over the business, then based in Austin, GENBAND had about $5 million in revenue. This year, the company, which is in the process of moving its headquarters from Plano to Frisco by year’s end, is poised to pull in somewhere around $800 million in revenue. And an initial public offering could happen in less than a year.

How did it happen? Vogt recruited a talented management team, developed strong customer and industry partnerships, kept his investors happy enough to continue writing checks, and pulled off a series of acquisitions of ever-increasing size.

The most recent deal, a purchase of a piece of bankrupt Nortel Networks that will cost GENBAND more than $400 million when all is said and done, is unquestionably Vogt’s boldest move yet. The Nortel transaction vaulted GENBAND — which in 2009 had around $150 million in revenue and 500 employees — to the big leagues. The business now has more than 2,200 workers worldwide with products deployed in 600 networks in 80 countries.

But success has its price. Vogt concedes that keeping up GENBAND’s meteoric growth rate will continue to be a challenge.

“It’s about growing the top line and continuing to exceed customers’ expectations,” he said. But “when you get to a size like this, growing the top line 10 percent isn’t easy.”

Despite having to meet payroll for thousands of people and managing an enterprise that suddenly is under the microscope — both within the telecom market and on Wall Street — Vogt manages to give back to the industry and the community. He’s board chairman of the Telecommunications Industry Assocation, chairman of the Ohio telecom-technology provider Kentrox and is active in the Young Presidents Organization.

He also encourages charitable work at GENBAND, having led annual food drives and donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina. And he sponsors various charity events to benefit young children.

Vogt is quick to share credit for his company’s impressive growth.

“I’m just proud of the (GENBAND) team and what they’ve accomplished,” he said. “I think that it’s all about people and the team.”

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